The present invention relates to a toothbrush composed essentially of a grip handle and a head supported at its distal end, particularly to a toothbrush which is designed to be adjustable for individual use depending on the dentition and size of the mouth.
There are available various types of toothbrushes each composed essentially of a grip handle and a head supported at its distal end, in terms of handle configuration, head size, rigidity of bristles implanted in the head, etc. Users can select optimum ones depending on their use conditions including the size of the mouth and the like, for example, from those whose handles are curved, those having small heads, those in which the rigidity of bristles implanted in the heads is changed locally, etc.
However, since dentition including occlusion varies greatly depending on individual users, it is sometimes difficult to select an applicable toothbrush from the variations described above.
That is, the conventional ready-made toothbrushes are not designed to be applicable to the individual dentition, but users must compromise on their tooth conditions with the ready-made toothbrushes, so that it is extremely unlikely that the ready-made toothbrushes provide the optima for users.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a toothbrush which can suitably be adjusted for individual uses depending on the conditions including dentition and the like that vary depending on the individual users, which can clean not only teeth but also oral mucosa, gingivae, tongue and all others in the oral cavity and which can be adjusted depending on the individual use.
In order to overcome the problem described above, the gist of the present invention is a toothbrush consisting essentially of a grip handle and a head formed at the distal end of the handle, the head having a multiplicity of bristles implanted on a surface thereof; wherein the head consists of a plurality of head segments each having a through hole defined substantially at the center; and the head segments are designed to be locked at desired angular positions respectively with respect to the handle such that orientations of the bristles in the head segments can be changed from segment to segment.
The above toothbrush can be embodied according to various constitutions to be described later.
The handle is provided at the distal end with a support shaft which penetrates the head segments to support them thereon. The support shaft is provided with locking means for locking the head segments at predetermined angles respectively with respect to the support shaft. The head segments supported by the support shaft penetrating them are designed to be locked using fixing means such as welding, adhesive, etc.
Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrated by way of examples the principles of the invention.